NAZA Producer Yuval Abraham Faces Scrutiny Over Partnership With Hamas-Linked Activist

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israeli filmmaker and journalist Yuval Abraham, producer of the controversial documentary NAZA, is facing renewed scrutiny over a longstanding relationship with Palestinian activist Ahmed Alnaouq, a senior official in an organization that Israel has designated as a terrorist entity.

The connection was highlighted on X by OSINT researcher Eitan Fischberger, who examined Abraham’s relationship with Alnaouq and the history of the organization where Alnaouq holds senior positions.

The relationship itself is not disputed. In 2019, Abraham and Alnaouq founded Across the Wall, a media project that translated Palestinian stories into Hebrew and presented them to Israeli audiences.

In a 2022 article published by the Qatari-based The New Arab, Alnaouq described how he and Abraham established the project after Abraham contacted him to discuss Palestinian views of Israeli politics. Alnaouq wrote that the two were motivated by a shared desire to change the political and media reality in Israel and Palestine. The project eventually adopted a political vision supporting a one-state solution.

Abraham has also described Alnaouq as a close friend and colleague. In a statement cited by Fischberger, Abraham went further, describing Alnaouq as his “partner” not only in establishing the project but also “in a political path.”

That relationship takes on added significance because of Alnaouq’s role at the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, commonly known as Euro-Med Monitor.

According to the Swiss commercial registry, Alnaouq is a member of the organization’s committee, serving as its treasurer and vice president. Euro-Med itself identifies him as an outreach and advocacy officer. The organization has also been the subject of longstanding Israeli allegations concerning links to Hamas.

Fischberger’s most significant finding concerns the organization’s legal status in Israel. According to Israel’s official counterterrorism records, the entity “Euromid Observer for Human Rights” was designated by Israel in 2015 as an unauthorized association. The organization’s current name, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, appears as an alias in databases derived from the Israeli counterterrorism list.

NGO Monitor has likewise reported that Israel’s Defense Ministry banned Euromid Observer for Human Rights in March 2015 and that the entity was subsequently treated under Israel’s counterterrorism framework.

The significance of the older name is that Euro-Med Monitor subsequently operated publicly under its newer name, making the connection less immediately apparent in conventional searches.

The organization has rejected allegations that it is a Hamas front and presents itself as an independent human-rights organization. Its own publications describe its mission as documenting alleged human-rights violations and advocating internationally on behalf of Palestinians. Nevertheless, Israeli authorities and researchers have repeatedly pointed to connections between senior Euro-Med figures and Hamas.

NGO Monitor notes, for example, that Euro-Med founder and chairman Ramy Abdu and former chairman Mazen Kahel appeared on a 2013 Israeli list concerning Hamas operatives and institutions in Europe.

There are also documented Hamas connections involving Alnaouq’s family. Le Monde reported that Alnaouq’s brother Ayman was described in a previous report as a member of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas’s military wing also published a eulogy for Ayman.

The revelations come as NAZA, directed by Abraham and Rachel Szor, has generated intense controversy following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The documentary makes serious allegations about Israeli military conduct in Gaza. The IDF has categorically rejected the film’s allegations, while Israeli political figures have sharply criticized its filmmakers.

Against that backdrop, Fischberger argues that Abraham’s relationship with Alnaouq deserves greater scrutiny. The issue is not simply that Abraham worked with a Palestinian journalist. Rather, critics argue that the identity and organizational affiliations of his long-term collaborator are relevant when assessing the background of a filmmaker whose work makes serious accusations against Israel’s military.

Alnaouq himself has openly described the political purpose behind Across the Wall. In his New Arab article, he wrote that the project sought to challenge Israeli mainstream narratives, expose what he described as Israeli “occupation crimes,” and promote a one-state political vision.

Abraham’s public description of Alnaouq as a “partner” in both the media project and a broader political path therefore goes beyond a brief professional encounter.

At the same time, the available evidence does not establish that Abraham himself is a Hamas member or Hamas supporter. His collaboration with Alnaouq, even if politically significant, does not by itself prove that he shared or endorsed every position or affiliation associated with his colleague.

The central question raised by Fischberger is therefore one of disclosure and credibility: why has Abraham’s close and longstanding partnership with a senior figure in an organization designated by Israel under its former name received relatively little attention, particularly as Abraham’s film makes highly consequential allegations about Israel?